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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Goal Quest is a planned series of tabletop games currently being created by my sister, Janet Mott-Snider, and me, Marcia Burrows.
Janet is a CPSS (Certified Peer Support Specialist) living and working in Michigan. The individuals she serves are on Medicaid and have mental health diagnoses as well as addiction issues.
I'm a professional game designer living and working in Florida.

While serving as Community Teaching Assistant for the online class in Game Design presented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, edX 11.126x in May 2016,
I wondered if there were elements of Janet's challenging work that could be enhanced with a custom game.
So, Janet enrolled in the class with me to study the course materials about game design.
And together we started brainstorming, theorizing and dreaming of games for recovery.

One of Janet's important functions is to use her specialized training to encourage individuals to set life goals.
Currently she helps people set goals using a multi-page form.
Our plan is to gamify that process so that it's engaging. After all, the point of playing a game is FUN!

We hope our games will help overcome reluctance in approaching the life-enhancing yet challenging activity of goal setting.

Just as people have different learning styles, there are various methods to approach setting goals.
An individual could read a book about goals, listen to a lecture about goals, watch a video, fill out a form, write in a journal, talk with a Peer Support Specialist, to name a few.
We want to present an additional method: Games about goal setting!

Strengths and Troubles

Recognizing strengths and skills is a first step toward goal setting. So the first game in the Goal Quest series is Strengths and Troubles.

Used in a playful and flexible way, Strengths and Troubles can help focus thinking and discussion about strengths.

Here's a description of the game:
Walk the path of strength by showing your strengths and overcoming troubles with wellness tools.
You'll win by making your way from strength 1 to strength 100!

A game for one to four players. The Strengths and Troubles game board was inspired by the ancient game Snakes and Ladders.
Strengths and Troubles adds two decks of cards to the board game.
You'll move your token from space 1 to space 100 by rolling a die, drawing cards, sliding down, and climbing up.

We're developing The Goal Adventure (working title) as a second game to follow Strengths and Troubles.
We plan The Goal Adventure as a game of exploration.